Chrome Overtakes Safari in Browser Wars

Chrome has overtaken Safari in the browser wars, according to new numbers.

For Apple, non-Mac OS usage of is Safari browser has long felt like something of an afterthought. The company made a big push when it first rolled the browser out for Windows machines, but Apple's software team has since seemingly turned is focus elsewhere. Google, on the other hand, has been all about Chrome in the past year or so--after all, the browser will be morphing into its own operating system, later this year.

With all of that in mind, it doesn't really come as a surprise that Chrome has overtaken Safari in the browser wars. According to new numbers, Chrome usage has jumped from 3.9 to 4.9 percent of the market, for the month of December. Safari use rose as well--but just slightly, from 4.4 to 4.5 percent. Google's recent introduction of the browser for Mac and Linux no doubt helped push those numbers along.

Internet Explorer 8 also got a bump, from 19.4 to 20.9 percent. Firefox, meanwhile, slipped a bit from 24.7 to 24.6. Chrome's developers have stated that they're not looking to eat into Mozilla's marketshare, but judging from these numbers, the browser may be doing just that.

Brian Heater has worked at a number of tech pubs, including Engadget, Laptop, and PCMag (where he served as Senior Editor). Most recently, he was as the Managing Editor of TechTimes.com. His writing has appeared in Spin, Wired, Playboy, Entertainment Weekly, The Onion, Boing Boing, Publishers Weekly, The Daily Beast and various other publications. He hosts the weekly Boing Boing interview podcast RiYL, has appeared as a regular NPR contributor and shares his Queens apartment with a rabbit named Lucy.
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